Shaun Maloney had no complaints when he was dropped from the Scotland squad by George Burley - because he knew he did not merit a place in the manager's plans.
The forward found himself out of favour for last month's friendly against Northern Ireland because of his lack of first-team football with Aston Villa.
It was a decision that raised a few eyebrows, as Maloney had made a decent contribution to the national team in the past.
However, he has earned a prompt recall for the World Cup qualifiers against Macedonia on Saturday and Iceland next Wednesday after only 70 minutes of action upon his return to Celtic.
And he would jump at the opportunity to pull on a Scotland jersey again.
"When George first came in, the first game was the Croatia game and I started," he said.
"I wasn't playing regularly for my club and my confidence was pretty low, so it was a big boost for him to start me.
"But to be honest, I didn't do myself much justice in that game.
"From that game I knew I had to start playing regular football or I would find myself out of the squad.
"When it happened again this season, I didn't have any arguments about the manager leaving me out because he had every right to.
"The recall happened pretty quickly after the first game (for Celtic) so it was a nice surprise. I think I knew it was going to happen at some point."
Maloney suffered disappointment in last weekend's Old Firm derby, when Celtic slumped to a 4-2 defeat by Rangers, but he insists he has no regrets about his return to Parkhead.
He added: "The first week was great, the second obviously not so great with the result. I'm still delighted with the move. Old Firm games are like that.
"The side which wins is on a high, while the other one is on a low.
"At Celtic and Rangers, it's always there - the demands which are put on you to perform every week - and you're going to get criticised for it if it doesn't go well.
"No matter how disappointed I was, I never felt that I had made a mistake. I was happy with the first game.
"The second half of the second game, I think I can play a lot better. I think I'll improve the more games I play."
Maloney claims the events at Celtic Park at the weekend have not been discussed at Scotland's Cameron House base this week.
"I haven't spoken about the Old Firm game," he said.
"When you meet up here, however bad the result, it's not something you're really talking about because everyone is focusing on the World Cup."
Injured skipper Barry Ferguson is just one player who, at the age of 30, has never participated in a major finals with Scotland.
And Maloney firmly believes everyone else in the squad is just as determined to end the country's 10-year exile from the big stage.
"Some of the staff people here who have been to finals say it's the highlight of their career," he said.
"There's a lot of players who want to get there and see what it's like. This is one of the biggest platforms you can play on.
"I think everyone knows how important it is and we're desperate to get there. At the moment, the World Cup finals seem a bit far off, two years away.
"I imagine it would be amazing. I think it means a lot to him and I think it means as much to the other players who haven't been there.
"This campaign is a chance to achieve it."
